James Mayben, who resides on 9th Street in Troy, talks about Wednesday morning's accident at the intersection of Hoosick and 10th streets during the public comment period of Thursday night's Planning Committee meeting at
the Oakwood Community Center. (Mike McMahon / The Record)

TROY -- While a meeting held by the city's Planning Committee was originally scheduled to discuss the creation of a citizen's workgroup tasked with giving recommendations for a complete streets law, some attention was also given to the safety of Hoosick Street after Wednesday morning's accident.

Around 30 residents showed up to the meeting held at the Oakwood Community Center Thursday night to hear committee Chairman Rodney Wiltshire and other members' ideas for the workgroup as well as provide suggestions on how to properly create one.

But the discussion picked up towards the end of the meeting, when Wiltshire opened the floor to public comment, as many not only spoke about the dangers of the Hoosick Street corridor, but also offered suggestions on how to mitigate the problems.

Wiltshire acknowledged much of the problem with Hoosick Street is that it is viewed as a highway because of its width and the fact that Route 7 empties onto it from the Collar City Bridge.

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"When we have something that looks like a highway, people will drive like it's a highway," Wiltshire said, before adding various suggestions on how to improve the safety of the street. "We are legally allowed to walk across that street, so we should be able to get across that street."

A study conducted in 2004 not only suggested the construction of a pedestrian bridge between the Troy Plaza and the Seton Health Center, but also the idea of having green space for pedestrians to stop at if they didn't have enough time to cross.

Other residents felt ideas such as timing the crosswalk with the streetlights and a bridge wouldn't cut it and felt police enforcement would be a better solution.

"When you get off 787 in Green Island, [police] are parked right there to make sure you go 30 miles per hour," said resident Amy Halloran. "The other thing is, enforcement changes attitude."

There were other suggestions, such as making sure cars turning off of side streets were prohibited from turning right on red or putting in more stop signs to force drivers to slow down. Wiltshire informed the crowd that Mayor Lou Rosamilia would be meeting with New York State DOT representatives on April 4, but many residents felt it wouldn't do much, with some suggesting they meet with the residents or try and cross the street themselves.

Wiltshire was able to update attendees on Amy Vanwoert's condition, as he received a text message from a member of her family during the meeting stating that she had gotten out of surgery and was being treated for spinal injuries. Her exact condition was not readily known. Wiltshire added her mother, Sarah Bingham, had been out of surgery and was expected to be in the hospital for month for recovery.

The workgroup, which Wiltshire said would be comprised of five members of the community and three appointees from Rosamilia, was also discussed. It would look into various ways to make the city more welcoming to bicyclists, pedestrians, disabled residents and various other forms of transportation for six months. The group would then create a report filled with recommendations for a Complete Streets law and submit it to the City Council.

Planning Commission Chair Barbara Nelson said the idea, which was first brought forth by Capital District Community Gardens, has the City Council's support, as it passed a resolution supporting the legislation's creation. She said the workgroup would be coming up with ideas for a universal planning of the city's streets to make all of them more accessible to all travelers.

"The role will be to advise the city on what the specifics of or complete streets law ought to be," Nelson said. "We'd like to bring in the local knowledge to advise the city on just how the law should be written for Troy."

There were some questions from the public on how people would be chosen for the group or who Rosamilia would pick. Resident Abby Lublin of Collard City Growers requested that one of the five residents be appointed as the committee's chairperson. She also was concerned about not having enough of a variety people in the group coming from other areas of the city as well as their backgrounds.

"It is important to me to have diversity in the five of the group," Wiltshire said. "We want diversity in geography and what their own personal interests are."

The resolution was unanimously voted to be put on the agenda for May's City Council Meeting.